User reviews

Attack the Block is one of those films that does exactly what it says on the tin - its a bunch of aliens attacking a bunch of roadmen in London. If this premise doesn't appeal to you, steer clear as the film isn't anymore complex or deep than that. I for one loved the premise. It was simple, effective, and entertaining!

The film has a great pace, with no messing about. Joe Cornish knew exactly what he wanted to do and got straight down to it. There was lots of good action, some great suspenseful scenes, and some neat chase scenes. At under an hour and a half long, Attack the Block never felt like it was dragging. It was zippy, fresh, and engaging.

I wasn't massively in love with any of the characters. They were pretty cliched at times, and didn't really get much development. They just were who they were. I must say though Joe Cornish captured the generation perfectly. All the language and behaviour felt very real and authentic. The acting was decent as well, with Jodie Whittaker as the standout for me.

My absolute favourite part of the film though was the design of the aliens. They felt so fresh and unique, and just looked very cool whenever on screen. The effects haven't aged at all in 10 years.

Attack the Block is a perfect film to sit back, switch off the brain, grab the popcorn and be thoroughly entertained.

First, this is the sort of flick the UK writers do so well and frankly don't do enough of.

Reminds me of the old saying, when Life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade.

London has blessed the UK film industry with one of the most diverse and interesting ecosystems on the planet. What, I have lost count, 14 distinct accents and counting? In return the industry has taken this raw material and produced a wide range of thrillers, most of which rely heavily for their impact on the violence element or the gang element.

So, who woke up one morning and said, hey, let's make the gang the good guys for a change ... instead of causing trouble they get to defend the country against aliens. And brimming with gang values, they will go it alone, they will not even ask for help.

Great premise, brilliant and engaging execution. It could have just been "merely" entertaining, but great writing, cast, acting and direction help it make the leap to cult classic.

The low IMDb rating is not merely wrong, it is seriously wrong. This is a fun film that can be watched more than once.

I watched this without knowing the production team, who worked on it, nothing. A friend just said 'you like sci-fi movies right? Here.' And I'll admit, for the first ten minutes, I was worried. The throw-back creature-feature title sequence being my main concern.

But after that wavery start, I watched over an hour of what I would consider to be one of the truest, bloodiest and certainly most adrenaline-packed horrors I've seen in a very very long time.

The main kids - the 'gang' - are very real and the kids' acting really shines. Moses, the lead, certainly leads us through a series of complex emotions, from hatred to forgiveness, and round again a few more times just for kicks. The actor who played him will be going places with a sullen wall-eyed expression that he still manages to convey so much meaning with.

As to the plot - well, most of the actual plot is there for comedy, and the moment of gratuity when the adults are plainly dumber than the kids (teenagers everywhere punch the air and laugh). I was expecting, as I watched the film with ever more pleasure, to be let down and have the aliens' presence left unexplained, as with many non-blockbuster horrors. But, in two mere sentences, the loose threads are tied and the finale is lead into all in one great sweep of fantastic writing.

Last, but definitely not least, the aliens themselves were phenomenal. There was a certain amount of keep-them-in-the-dark and leave-it-to-your-imagination, but there were also absolute gore-fest moments which were done superbly (though the squeamish may need to blink). The aliens were well designed and were flawlessly integrated into the movie. To be honest I don't even know if they were puppets or CGI - I was so caught up in the fast-paced running and fighting, into which they were so seamlessly included.

Definitely one to watch for fans of the genre, fans of the creators, or anyone looking for a thrill. I'll certainly be watching it again. And if you wanna read someone say it better than I just did - http://www.flickfilosopher.com /blog/2011/08/attack_the_block_ review.html (remove superfluous spaces) (contains language, in movie quotes).

All aspiring film-makers should watch this. And those producing films for SyFy or Asylum should also take note.

First and foremost, we need characters. Characters that have each their own voice and emotions, all growing from their personal past. This makes the viewer care about what happens to them, root for them, and believe in them. It also takes a bit of the storytelling burden off the cinematography, as these characters can support the story in their part.

Secondly, a compelling story should be written. Compelling does not necessarily equal complex. A story should have events pan out in an order that presents at least some kind of logic and thought behind it. Twists and turns are okay, but they don't have to be gimmicks. This doesn't mean resorting to worn clichés, but have these engaging characters something to do. Something, that has some weight to it, so that the viewer stays focused for the length of the movie.

And third, add a bit of vision. A little quirk here and there brings the humanity of the characters, the story, and those making the film apparent, and creates the valuable bond between the finished movie and its' audience.

As we can see, none of these elements require much of a budget. So having a small budget should not be a constraint per se, but rather a source of ingenuity. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one excellent example, Attack the Block is another.

It is clear that they did not have the money for a plethora of awesome locations, top-notch CGI, or brand-name anything. But what they managed to do with what they had was fun and entertaining and well worth a re- watch: The lack of shooting locations was masked with a brilliant and logical reason for limited room; lack of awe-inspiring special effects was masked with more traditional skills, ie. use of light and sound, and going story first (everyone knows how annoying is the modern over-focus on CGI over human connection, even when the effects are great); and I have no reason to believe they were looking for cheap actors, but people with desire to go out and do their best and have some fun while at it.

This film is fresh and entertaining, and as stated in the beginning, a great lesson in how to make something great out of nothing much.

B-Movies were once all the rage, but those days seem to have long gone. This is an update on those old much loved films, which takes a simple but outlandish idea, and fuses it with the modern London world.

We have here a set of young estate living lads who end up caught up with an alien invasion! The strange black furry creatures are attacking their tower block, and our unlikely urban heroes are as much looking out for their own lives as that of the others too!

The humour is good, the effects are fine and likable without being corny, the acting is great and you really begin to love the motley crew in this. They're never patronised, they talk in their own lingo and act like many others of their age do!

I really enjoyed it. I think this deserves more exposure, it's a fun film and will keep everyone entertained. Give it a go.

I thought this movie was quite entertaining, and actually funny in some parts. It's not a normal horror movie or alien invasion movie. It ends very satisfactorily, unlike most horror movies, and the plot is quite original played with talented actors in a setting that many of us are not so familiar with. If you like rap, you'll like the music throughout too. All the actors and main actress did very well. Thankfully I saw this with subtitles since I can't follow language from "the hood" very well. The only thing that didn't seem so real to me were the space creatures, but that gave for a good laugh. If you don't take this movie too seriously, it's a lot of fun. And there was "the moral of the story is..." thrown in, like lessons learned, rectifying mistakes, etc. All in all, it makes for a good Thursday or Friday night at the movies.

Mutual distrust turns to uneasy alliance as an alien invasion forces a group of British teens to work together with a nurse who they mugged in this action thriller starring John Boyega as the leader of the teen gang. Boyega is just as effective here as in 'The Force Awakens', giving his hardened character a vulnerable, human side bubbling beneath the surface. The actors who play his young friends are well cast too. Jodie Whitaker is less effective as the nurse and Nick Frost is criminally underused, but in general, there is a lot to like about how the characters interact here. There are even some scattered comic moments to be had in how everyone from the teenagers' girlfriends to the local teen drug lord scoffs at their claims of being under alien attack. The gradual bonding between Whitaker and the teens, who she initially describes a "monsters", in the face of *real* monsters is where the film succeeds best though - so much so that the action sequences end up being a low point of the movie. Without any eyes and glowing sharp jaws, the creatures are quite unsettling to look at, but all the attack scenes become a little repetitive with the film sagging towards the middle. The movie certainly ends on a very high note, however, with a third act that potently pushes the film's single biggest message about teen thugs always being misunderstood and never properly recognised.

Old school dopeness. It's like Goonies meets Shaun of the Dead meets Independence Day. The whole alien invasion thing has been recycled as hell lately, but Joe Cornish found a way to make this thing feel so fresh and unique once again by containing it to such a unique setting and having this young group of hoodlums fighting back. None of it feels like it's been done before and as a result the film doesn't get dull for a second.

The less-than-90 minute running time is perfect for something this small, never letting us stop having fun in order to make time for pointless romantic subplots or unnecessary characters. There is never a dull moment in this, a film that I have no problem saying is the most fun I've had so far this year. Whoever cast these kids deserves some sort of medal because they are all fantastic and for most of them it's their first job. John Boyega in particular, in the lead role as the head of the group, is fantastic.

At first I was skeptical about the Jodie Whittaker character and her constant run-ins with the group but by the end I really embraced her dynamic with Moses and actually found myself getting surprisingly emotional at the end. The whole thing is just vibrant, exciting and so much intense entertainment. There are a solid amount of laughs throughout, but it's not even a film about trying to make you laugh or trying to scare you. It's just about having fun and it succeeds so admirably. It feels real old school and I loved every moment. Everyone should watch this.

Crackin film, idea perhaps not totally original, but few little twists to make it interesting, creature design is excellent simple but different and effective.

All performances are good, leads slightly better, Jodie Whittacker adds a nice dimension as a non gang member. But rest good solid back ups. Really liked it, variation on a theme, but a truly good one. Watch and enjoy.

This neat little movie by first time director Joe Cornish (in the UK many will be aware of him from his late '90's TV show 'Adam and Joe'), is a very straight forward alien invasion picture. The angle is simply in it's setting. We are introduced to a bunch of generic, stereotypical 'hoodies' on a London high-rise estate. After an attempt to mug a young woman, lights begin to fall from the sky. What ensues is a battle between the "yoof" protecting their block.

This is no great film, the general idea, and it's execution are standard for the genre. What is evident is Cornish's confidence in directing. The actors "under the hoods" are quite brilliant, displaying both the hard exterior that they portray on the "streets", but also their tender side, whilst along the way highlighting the reasons these young men are so disenfranchised; they are all from broken homes. This is quite a poignant issues when juxtaposed with the scenes of riots we saw in London this summer.

It must be hard to come up with new 'alien' monsters these days. We've seen in recent years some diabolically b******s monsters, but the creatures in this film are different and quite exception. Wolf-like, they seemingly have no eyes, and are completely black. Much of the early part of the film we see only shadows, silhouettes, until they open their mouths, displaying glow-in-the-dark gnashers.

Whilst not a ground breaking cinematic masterpiece, or even a great film, it has much to love. It has charm, some good performances, and the tension is palpable at times. It will be interesting to see what Cornish does next (apart from the co-writing job on Spielberg/Jackson's Tintin films with Edgar Wright).

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After reading the previous reviews of this movie, I am a bit surprised to see how many people didn't like it. They didn't care for the characters, because of their rude language, their clothes (Ooooh, hoddies:) and the fact that they are petty criminals. But this is a classic "bad guy turns hero" story with such a great written script and talented young actors. The casting director did an excellent job finding these kids. They are real, natural and very believable in portraying being born and raised in Londons Ends. I found myself actually caring about the characters and their destiny throughout the movie. "Attack the Block" is a horror comedy about an alien invasion. Aaaah, you think, I've seen this before! "Bodysnatchers", "The Faculty", and not to mention the great TV-series "Falling Skies". But this movie is different. The focus in the film lies with the characters, and their reaction to having their street invaded by aliens. The aliens them self are kind of cheesy, but scary in a funny way. I expected Nick Frost to have a bigger role, I loved him in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Paul". But he never disappoints me, funny as always :) I really enjoyed this movie, and if you like movies like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Tucker & Dale vs Evil", you'll probably enjoy this as well.

Favourite quote from the movie " Oh man! All this weed and no skins... This is the worst day of my life!"

Alien invasions are a dime a dozen these days. Studios feel self-assured that the public takes note on the calendar every time a movie promises to lay waste to a major metropolis at the hands of angered or ruthless extraterrestrials.

So with studios trying to one-up each other by expanding the scope of skyscraper carnage, what a peculiar choice for Joe Cornish to go microcosm and set "Attack the Block" in a small sector of South London.

Budget limitations might have capped Cornish's threshold for mayhem, but based on the tone of his film, he wouldn't have used bigger funds to up the scale of destruction. He offers us "Attack the Block" as character and horror-driven counter-programming to today's invasion blockbusters.

The alien menace in this film is markedly different, as are its protagonists, an inherently unlikable gang of South London teens. While they're mugging a woman (Jodie Whittaker), a strange creature crashes on the street right next to them. When it lashes out, the boys promptly kill it and then drag it to the drug dealer (Nick Frost) living in their block in hopes of finding out what it is and upping their street cred, but soon after, several shadowy beasts with glowing blue teeth fall from the sky and bound after them.

Most of the action takes place in or around the block, and few people other than the central characters get roped into the invasion. In that sense the film plays out more as a horror film in which the gang (and coincidentally the woman they mugged) must fend off and outsmart the creatures, who are trying to pick them off. Cornish balances suspense, action and gore to keep the genre a bit more ambiguous.

What's most impressive about the story is that the characters grow on us over time. Normally it's hard to care about the characters in a horror or alien invasion film unless they are well developed, but here's a case in which the characters truly develop as the film wears on and by the end we're quite fond of them.

John Boyega as the gang leader, Moses, steals the show. He has the look and temperament of a young Denzel Washington. Although we never truly understand who he is—at least not until near the end—we sense the pain behind his eyes and his life's frustrations as he stands up to the aliens. Other characters, notably Pest (Alex Esmail) serve to add comedy and diversify the personalities to make the film more interesting.

Parts of the film drag and much of what happens could be deemed predictable, but Cornish puts a certain spirit into the film, not to mention a greater social message about how to treat other people that most big-budget films tend to graze over. Combined with some fun stylization to the action and events, this is the kind of film that's easy to root for, even if its far from mind-blowing.

~Steven C

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This teenagers-against-invading-aliens sci-fi thriller has its heart in the right place, but I don't know that I can wholly recommend it.

We're introduced to a bunch of punks who live in a bad London neighborhood, who decide it's up to them to protect their block from a host of aggressive aliens that look like shaggy black werewolves. We're supposed to think these kids are punks for the first half of the movie, but then be won over by them and realize that they're just victims of circumstances by the time the movie is over. But that never really happened for me. I spent most of the film looking forward to seeing them get their heads ripped off and then being disappointed when it didn't happen as frequently as I would have liked. The lack of rooting interest in this particular film is an almost insurmountable obstacle to thoroughly enjoying it.

One bright spot, however, was Jodie Whittaker, playing a woman who's mugged by this gang of punks in the first moments of the film but then finds herself allied with them later when she has no other choice. She's a lovely actress and gives a lovely performance.

Grade: B-

The film was complete, I firmly believe that a lot of the blow back about the characters having criminal roots, petty as they may be, miss the point of the film. Growing up in city/public housing, with or without a parent around is not something that is easily related to the walks of every day life that we all consider normal. Joe Cornish captured the entire upbringing that so many (my brothers and I included) children had/have had to, just because you have a parent does not mean you,or they have money, growing up in those sort of neighborhoods either builds character or destroys it. The fact that I have read so many reviews that consist of hatred towards a group of confused under-privileged 15 year olds just goes to show that part of the film is lost on a certain demo......the film killed in theaters as far as experience, and I'm yet to find a person under 50 who has a sour word to say about it. Basically, if you were born after 1982........you'll love it, i almost promise that, unless your looking for the no fun zone.

I enjoyed Attack the Block to a certain degree—it had some really cool creatures, solid action, and is littered with amusing lines of dialogue—but I would have liked the film a whole lot more if there had been just a few more characters I could actually give a toss about.

With the sole exception of Jodie Whittaker as Sam, Attack the Block's characters are loathsome pieces of human garbage: teenage gang-members, drug dealers and wannabe gangsters, people with absolutely no regard for the the law or the feelings of others (they also do a pretty good job of murdering the English language).

This probably wouldn't have been such an issue had they all suffered agonising deaths, but Cornish's script virtually exonerates these vile individuals of their crimes, turning them into the heroes of the piece. It's this moral turpitude that ruins a potentially very entertaining film. After all, it's hard to stay on the edge of your seat when you're rooting for the monsters.

Simple stated it's a fun movie. Make sure you have your sub titles on to ensure you get the dialogue. I found this to be a an original story, set in South London, this small gang witnesses the beginning of an alien invasion in the housing block and set out to stop them and that's when you start to worry about them and cheer them on as they protect their home. Enjoy it for what it is a fun action adventure.

It's a imaginative treatment of the science fiction's ordinary theme about an Alien invasion but from a point of sight adolescent and which takes place in a tower block. A teen gang (Most of the teenage actors were found through their schools and online open audition calls) in South London defend their block from an alien invasion . As a rocks falls and when the meteorite breaks open, an alien cocoon is revealed . No matter how much armaments are utilized facing them, the strange aliens are invincible and impassive . Neither army, helicopters ,air force , Police or bombs manage to vanquish to the imperturbable and unalterable invasion alien , but the group of teens hardly contend the ugly and hairy extraterrestrials . While the inhabitants getting away , the group seeks refuge in their block but the aliens pursue them .

This moving picture contains noisy action , thrills , chills , gore , guts and brief touches of humor . The film concerns upon the survival of human specie ,the fundamental theme is the humanity-Alien confrontation ; an exceptional happening like is an extraterrestrial invasion , being faced off by some valiant teens . However , turns out to be politically incorrect the gang of teens carry out violent mugging on a nurse well played by Jodie Whittaker whose scene was filmed on the first day of shooting ; director Joe Cornish was inspired to make this film after actually being mugged in real-life one night . As the biggest problem people seem to have with Attack the Block is that the main starring results to be a fifteen-year-old young delinquent become a hero . The movie is a crossover from ¨Critters¨ by Stephen Hopkins , ¨Gremlins¨ by Joe Dante and ¨Signs¨ by Night Shyamalan , in fact , writer/director Joe Cornish has stated that watching Signs (2002) and imagining what would happen if it took place in south London was an inspiration for this flick . Spectacular and amusing walkway chase set piece which took ten days to shoot and all the interiors were done on sets . Overwhelming and impressive FX of destruction executed by aliens are well made , though film-makers only used CG effects when absolutely necessary, and to enhance practical effects for the creatures rather than replace them completely . Good feature film debut of director Joe Cornish and the bulk of this film was shot in 67 days , having to remove fifteen pages of the script prior to the shooting of the film because of budgetary constraints and he did in depth research on language to accurately convey the way South London street kids speak . Joe grew up and lives in South London, where this film is set and he usually is screenwriter , as he wrote the recent ¨Adventures of Tintin : The secret of unicorn¨ .Rating : 6,5 ; acceptable and passable film . Well worth watching , it's an original and edge-of-your-seat entertaining.